Rachel Khong (born 1985) is an American writer and editor based in San Francisco.

Life

Khong was born in Malaysia to a

Malaysian Chinese Malaysian Chinese (; Malay: ''Orang Cina Malaysia''), alternatively Chinese Malaysians, are Malaysian citizens of Han Chinese descent. They form the second largest ethnic group after the Malay majority constituting 22.4% of the Malaysian po ...

family. She grew up in

Rancho Cucamonga, California Rancho Cucamonga ( ) is a city located just south of the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest in San Bernardino County, California, United States. About east of Downtown Los Angeles, Rancho Cucamonga is the 28th ...

and attended high school in nearby

Diamond Bar, California Diamond Bar is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2010 census it had a population of 55,544, and in 2019 the population was estimated to be 55,720. It is named after the "diamond over a bar" branding iron re ...

. Khong attended

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and graduated with a degree in English in 2007. She received her MFA from

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in 2011, where she studied with

Padgett Powell Padgett Powell (born April 25, 1952 in Gainesville, Florida) is an American novelist in the Southern literary tradition. His debut novel, ''Edisto'' (1984), was nominated for the American Book Award and was excerpted in ''The New Yorker''. Po ...

. Khong is married to Eli Horowitz, co-creator of Gimlet's ''Homecoming'' podcast, and former editor at

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. Initially publishing the literary journal'' Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', the company has moved to n ...

Career

After completing her graduate degree, Khong moved to San Francisco and worked in the food service industry. She had interned at

while in college and edited cookbooks for them after graduating. In 2011, Chris Ying of ''

Lucky Peach Momofuku is a culinary brand established by chef David Chang in 2004 with the opening of Momofuku Noodle Bar. It includes restaurants in New York City, Sydney, Toronto, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles (Noodle Bar, Ssäm Bar, Ko, Má Pêche (defunct) ...

'', who Khong had met while interning at McSweeney's, asked her to be the managing editor of the magazine. She later went on to become executive editor of ''Lucky Peach''. Khong cofounded The Ruby in 2018, a female oriented co-working space based in

Mission District, San Francisco The Mission District (Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as The Mission (Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is ...

Writing

Her writing has appeared in publications such as ''American Short Fiction'', ''Joyland'', and ''The San Francisco Chronicle''. She is the coauthor of a cookbook called ''All About Eggs''. Her first novel, ''Goodbye, Vitamin,'' received Best Book of the Year honors from NPR, ''

O, The Oprah Magazine ''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications. Overview It was first published on April 19, 2000. , its average paid circulation was ...

'', the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', and ''Vogue''. The story was inspired by her grandmother's battle with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. The novel won the 2017 California Book Award for First Fiction, as well as a ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize Finalist for First Fiction.

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

optioned the film rights in June 2019, with

Constance Wu Constance Wu (born March 22, 1982) is an American actress. Wu was included on ''Time'' magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2017. She has earned several accolades, including nominations for a Golden Globe Award, fo ...

attached to lead.

FilmNation Entertainment FilmNation Entertainment, LLC is an American film production, co-financing and international sales company, founded by film executive Glen Basner in 2008. History 2008: Founding FilmNation Entertainment is an independent film production and d ...

announced on February 5, 2021 that they and

Ali Wong Alexandra Dawn Ali Wong (born April 19, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She is best known for her Netflix stand-up specials ''Baby Cobra'' (2016), ''Hard Knock Wife'' (2018), and ''Don Wong'' (2022). She starred in the film ' ...

are producing an adaptation of Khong's short story, ''The Freshening'', with director

Cathy Yan Cathy Y. Yan is a Chinese-born American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Her films include the comedy-drama film '' Dead Pigs'' (2018) and ''Birds of Prey'' (2020), the eighth installment of the DC Extended Universe. Early life and edu ...

set to write and direct. She has written book reviews for the ''New York Times'', including of novels by Maria Kuznetsova and Sarah Elaine Smith.

Works

Novels *''Goodbye, Vitamin'' (2017) , Short stories *''The Freshening'' (2018)

References

External links

Rachel Khong's websiteInterview with the Asian-American Writer's Workshop
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khong, Rachel 1985 births Living people Yale University alumni Asian writers University of Florida alumni American magazine editors Women magazine editors Malaysian people of Chinese descent Malaysian emigrants to the United States People who lost Malaysian citizenship